Zach Lowe's Opinion of the Celtics 11/15/19

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28067196/ten-nba-things-like-including-supercharged-celtics




Ten NBA things I like and don't like, including the supercharged Celtics




5:15 AM PT


Zach Lowe
ESPN Senior Writer



Fourth Friday brings a fresh batch of 10 things:


1. The 9-1 Celtics, on a string

Boston has slid to 11th in points allowed per possession, and it was reasonable to expect slippage with Gordon Hayward out (and Enes Kanter back). Boston's bench is wobbly, and its core lineups ask a lot of an undersized point guard in Kemba Walker and a patchwork of backup center types.

But those core lineups -- the ones that will play the lion's share of minutes when it matters -- have been stingy all season. Daniel Theis has made a strong case to start even with Kanter healthy.

Boston's best defensive groups buzz around with ferocity and airtight connectivity:

https://media.video-cdn.espn.com/gifs/mp4/2gif_SAS_BOS_3Q_Celtics.mp4


Look at all the rapid-fire thinking -- non-thinking, really -- crammed into 10 seconds. It starts with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum negotiating a DeMar DeRozan/Trey Lyles pick-and-roll. Brown and Tatum are as switchable as it gets; only three teams have switched screens more often than Boston, per Second Spectrum.

Tatum and Brown are probably primed to switch here. DeRozan might expect it. He veers away from the pick, a classic ploy to wrong-foot switches. Brown and Tatum read that, and stay home.

Tatum dips down to help Brown, and that leaves Lyles open one pass away. Walker, guarding Bryn Forbes up top, doesn't rotate to Lyles. He trusts Tatum to recover and run Lyles off the arc. Tatum pays off that trust. Lyles blows by Tatum, but Walker corrals him. Tatum spots that, and flies to Forbes -- who then zooms by Tatum. No matter. Walker is there to cut off Forbes without losing track of Lyles. He deflects Forbes' pass, and ruins San Antonio's possession.

That is awesome. One blip of confusion -- a slight lean the wrong way, a flat-footed pause to think -- and the entire scheme falls apart.


Tatum has grown into a good defender -- smart, rangy, with a knack for disrupting stuff away from the ball. Provided more help on offense, Walker is playing the best defense of his career.

Marcus Smart doesn't even have a position on defense anymore. He guards everyone. He's also shooting 39% from deep on (by far) a career-high attempt rate. Uh oh.

On the other end of the floor, Boston suddenly leads the entire stinking league in points per possession. The Celtics appear to be a level above Toronto (a remarkable story itself), Miami and Indiana. It might be time to consider them a legitimate threat to Milwaukee and Philadelphia. If they upgrade the frontcourt, look out.



bob
MY NOTE: Finally! A little respect!! I didn't bother with the other 9 things he talks about. If you are interested click on the link provided at top.




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the team slipped to 11th in ppg allowed due to that wild game the other night where Washington scored like 13000 gazillion points but still lost. I think that much like the handful of games where brown was absent and we were able to still somehow miraculously win a game here and there, so it will be with 6 weeks without GH. We've got a lot of depth this year and its simply a matter of next fella up at this point. GH is nice, but I think even when he gets back we're gonna be right there in the mix for league best record/best in the east.

I noticed during Spurs game our perimeter defense is really lethal, we cover so much ground so fast, great to watch. It’s not about post up defense anymore, if you can’t defend in space and on pnr, you will get eatin up in this league.

No doubt giving up 133 points will screw up a defensive rating when you have only played 10 games.

It is a bit unsettling however because it pretty much confirms our worst fears about Kanter and his inability to play defense.  

The Celtics gave up 64 Points in the paint against Washington which is 20 points more than their season average of 44.

dboss I was actually looking around today for possible deals that Boston could do to improve at the 5 and how we could swing them, one deal I liked for a big would have worked if we waited till we could trade Kanter and Semi and a couple second rounders (to sweeten the deal) former Celtics Aaron Baynes.

He's tearing it up I hear in Phoenix as they await the return of their regular starting 5.

I really wish we had not needed to trade him, and after seeing that Kanter and Semi would work I was reminded since we traded him away this year we cant trade back for him. Its a shame too, exactly what we need.

Matty

Man if we could get Aron back that would be fantastic.  The salary cap forced Danny to trade him.

When I look at Kanter I see a veteran center whose career is on the downside.  His defense is so horribly bad that I would not care if he played for us the rest of the year.  As much as I craved a big that could rebound and score in the post I realize that he is a bad fit on this team.  Now I see why nobody wants him.

Giving up 133 points is understandable when you've scored 140. An uptick in possessions and FG attempts translates to an increase in points for *both* teams.



KJ